Benton was well aware that sects guarded their secrets to an absurd degree, and he didn’t want to beco quite that paranoid. On the other hand, knowledge could be dangerous. The only thing keeping his sect from being destroyed was certain beliefs the opposing factions held about him. The less they knew for certain, the better.
Thus the reason he’d sent Kang Ya-Ting off.
Benton didn’t know what kind of spectacle, if any, would be created when he advanced to Nascent Soul, but it was better to get rid of anyone who might sense and interpret any emanations that resulted from the process.
Obviously, all the Qi Gathering cultivators weren’t a danger because they couldn’t even sense qi yet. The Foundation Establishnt cultivators, honestly, weren’t all that much better with their lack of training so early in their journey. Besides, he trusted all three … oops, four … of them. And with Kang Ya-Ting gone there were no Golden Cores within range of Benton’s spiritual senses.
There was one big unknown left, however.
Yuan Yaozu seed like a nice enough guy, but he wasn’t soone that Benton knew well yet. The only thing he could trust was the man’s vow as witnessed by the heavens—to protect the sect for one hundred years. Did that include the sect’s secrets? How much could he rely on the man to keep what he saw to himself? Shoot, Benton didn’t even know how much he could trust the man to not take advantage of situations for his own gain.
The conclusion was simple. Benton’s best bet was to get rid of the guy for a short ti.
Sending a quick ssenger dragon was all it took to summon the man to the Administration Hall, and less than two minutes passed between dispatching the flying origami and Sun Hua letting him into the office.
“Greetings, Sect Leader,” Yuan Yaozu said. “The guests you asked to greet were sent packing. The one from the Jade Chaleon Sect left well before my arrival, and I gently persuaded the representatives from the City Lord and the Swift Blizzard Sect to be on their way.”
Benton frowned. While it was nice to get rid of the snoops, they’d seen everything that had happened, including his less than stellar performance against the enemy Nascent Souls. He was sure that, despite Kang Ya-Ting’s advice to keep the fight close, showing weakness was more likely to lead to a future confrontation than if he’s won an easy victory.
No use crying over spilt milk, though.
“Thank you,” Benton said. “I’m not sure if taking care of that issue for counted as part of your vow or not, but I appreciate you doing it.”
“I won’t say that I’m at your command to be a servant or anything, but I plan to earn my keep. Ask anything reasonable, and you’ll find willing.”
“That’s good to hear because I do have another request.”
“Na it,” Yuan Yaozu said.
“Go back to your sect. Just for a few days. I can hold out here with no issues without you. It’ll give you ti to take care of any personal issues you need to resolve. Say goodbyes or what have you.”
It was the newly minted Nascent Soul’s turn to frown. “Look, Sect Leader. I get it. You have secrets, and I’m a huge unknown. There’s definitely a lack of trust. Which makes sense. Trust is earned.”
“I’m glad you understand. I look forward to our next conversation. In a few days.”
Yuan Yaozu sighed. “If that is your choice, I won’t object, Sect Leader, but have you even considered the alternative? Instead of pushing away, draw in closer.”
Benton fixed the man with a skeptical look.
“The bond between a master and disciple is closer than that of elder to sect. There are advantages to having a Nascent Soul as a disciple. Having publicly refer to you as Master will convey more respect to you in the minds of the elders of all the factions than killing any number of cultivators ever will.”
“You’d be willing to beco my disciple? Why?”
“Gratitude?”
Benton gave him a look of pure disdain.
Yuan Yaozu laughed. “Okay, how about pure avarice, then? Not that I’m not grateful. I truly am. My bottleneck was… Let’s just say that I don’t think I ever would have gotten past it on my own.”
The new Nascent Soul did seem like he was being truthful, but when it ca to old cultivators, Benton trusted far more in their self interest than in their self sacrifice. “What’s in it for you?”
“You’re kidding, right? You gave Pan Jiang, a kid who at the ti was nothing but an arrogant pain in the ass, a top heaven grade sword technique. Everything you’ve given Kang Lin has been as high in quality. As far as I can tell, your gardeners use top heaven grade skills to grow hedges and have a top heaven grade scripture for the clippers they use to trim those hedges.”
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Instead of responding imdiately, Benton took a mont to ponder the situation. The techniques and thods the System provided were far superior to what other sects handed out to their regular mbers, producing a large benefit, but he found it difficult to believe just that boon alone was driving the man’s offer.
“Becoming a disciple is a huge step,” Benton said. “The loss of face and stature you’ll experience is equal to or greater than what I’ll gain. You’re willing to take that big of a hit to your reputation just for a cultivation thod and so techniques?”
“Sect Leader, not counting the ones I’ve seen you throw around, how many truly top grade scriptures do you think I’ve seen in my nearly thousand years as a cultivator?”
Benton shrugged.
“Three. I’ve seen three. Two of those I wasn’t even allowed to touch, and none were I allowed to learn. You treat the things like they have less value that the treats I’ve seen you give to children. You’re way underestimating their worth.”
Benton huffed. “Sorry. I just don’t buy it.”
Yuan Yaozu sighed again. “Fine. You want to get real? Let’s get real. I know your secret.”
Benton tensed. He had a lot of secrets.
“I know that you’re a Golden Core,” Yuan Yaozu said. “And don’t bother to deny it. I’m not an idiot.”
Benton narrowed his eyes, suddenly imagining that he would be forced to again kill soone in a higher realm than him. No matter how fast he intended to move, it seed like events had outpaced him still.
“If that were the case,” Benton said in a clipped tone, “why would you, a Nascent Soul, be willing to declare a re Golden Core as his master?”
“Simple. My vow. The best way for to protect your sect is to convince everyone that you’re too powerful to ss with. declaring you as my master will help with that. A lot.” Yuan Yaozu paused. “You’re a good man, Sect Leader. I believe you’re being authentic when you intimate that your biggest desire is to protect your people, which is why I made you the deal that I did. I couldn’t think of anything that would be more likely to convince you than offering my services to do just that. My current offer is another chance for you to do the sa—protect them. You should take it.”
Benton rubbed his glabella. To trust or not to trust? Both held deadly consequences if he chose wrong. A betrayal from soone who knew his secrets could be devastating, but failing to take advantage of help due to paranoia could be just as big a mistake.
“I need to think on this,” Benton said. “Be ready for my decision soon. If the answer is no, be prepared to leave for a few days as I instructed. If yes, we’ll talk further. Understood?”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“Very well. Dismissed.”
After everything else that Benton had been through that day, he hadn’t been prepared for that conversation. On the plus side, he felt like he’d gotten a better handle on Yuan Yaozu’s character. He wasn’t soone who planned to adhere only to the spirit of his vow. Instead, he appeared to fully embrace the responsibility.
That was what Benton’s gut told him anyway, but it was hard to trust his instinct with so much on the line. If he was right, though, the man might just be a heavens-sent blessing. After the fight, the weight of responsibility was pressing hard on Benton’s shoulders. It would be mighty nice to have another experienced adult around to take so of that burden.
The downside was having all his secrets exposed to the factions. Then again, the man had already sussed out Benton’s biggest secret, though that one wouldn’t remain relevant for much longer.
Of course, if the man was going to be hanging around for the next century anyway due to his vow, he was bound to pick up on other things because, honestly, Benton kind of sucked at long-term subterfuge. Making Yuan Yaozu into a disciple helped to ease concerns in that regard.
To betray a master’s secrets was a transgression on the level of practicing demonic arts. It had to be. Otherwise, how could any old cultivator trust handing out the secrets they’d taken centuries to gather?
Leaning toward accepting the offer, Benton put thoughts of it out of his mind for a while to focus on the next step of his plan.
His sect currently had six hundred twelve mbers. One thousand was the milestone he needed to reach to qualify for advancent to Nascent Soul. He was three hundred eighty-eight people shy.
Old him, the him that existed prior to nearly dying to the two Jade Chaleon cultivators, would have increased recruitnt to a hundred a week or sothing equally slow and stupid. Current him fired off two ssage dragons. The first directed Fatty Ren to induct one hundred new people into the sect before nightfall. The second directed Mayor Mo Jian to have the next three hundred people on the list of villagers to be inducted gather in the amphitheater after dinner.
Benton had a lot to accomplish before then, though. A lot. A lot. Much more than he could actually do in the ti he had. Once again, he was super happy to be a cheating cheater who cheats as he enveloped himself in a Ti Manipulation field.
The crux of the issue was that he was adding another three hundred people to his main sect branch, and he only had housing available for a fraction of that number. He’d prepared for that eventuality earlier by stocking up on houses and apartnts from the Righteous Rain Sect, but setting the houses, hooking up utilities, building roads, etc. still needed to be done. None was super complicated as he’d already worked the kinks out of the process, but even for soone superhumanly fast like him, it all took ti.
Hence the use of his technique.
As he Quickstepped to the area he’d ntally designated as neighborhood two, he idly wondered what he looked like to an outside observer. Was he just a blur? Did he look like so kind of ghost? Could they see him at all?
Benton laughed at the thought of the rumors of a house building spirit wagging on everyone’s tongue the next day as he went about his chores. He spent hours and hours getting everything perfect like he had for the first neighborhood.
That accomplished, he moved on to the wall, repairing the problems caused by the forced penetration by the enemy cultivators. A subjective hour later, the Grand Defensive Formation was back in service.
Which left … the towers.
Ugh. The enemy cultivators had done a number on them, especially the man after the woman had been killed. There was nothing left of them above the ground. They’d have to be completely rebuilt from scratch, aning it would take days for the base wood to be prepared.
Honestly, that was okay. Once he advanced to Nascent Soul, he and Yuan Yaozu were a much better deterrent than static defenses would ever be. The towers would eventually be completed, but Benton planned to enact the greater deterrent on a much quickly titable.
Before the sun rose the next morning, he planned to advance to the Nascent Soul realm.
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